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EU focus on botanicals in supplements continues

ANH-Intl recently highlighted continued attempts by the European Commission to limit the use of botanicals in supplements. European authorities are being informed of various supplements containing botanicals that exceed permitted levels, or that contain unauthorised ingredients, by authorities in European member states. Whilst the ingredients under investigation may not appear to be a major red flag, this subtle and ongoing reporting system highlights a quietly tightening noose threatening the availability of natural health supplements in Europe. Please write to your relevant MEP and the Commissioner for Health & Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, to tell the European Commission to urgently amend its Draft Recommendation (SANTE/7036/2017). Our campaign poster gives you the information you need to help us stop this.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, has recommended that people at highest risk of type 2 diabetes should be given advice to increase exercise and aid weight loss. Whilst this acknowledgement, from the UK’s leading health authority for type 2 diabetes, is both extremely welcome and long overdue, there is still a long way to go. Health authorities around the world continue to hound advocates of diet and lifestyle interventions to combat the rise of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and obesity. Yet, conventional eating guidelines such as the Eatwell Guide do little to combat the rise in chronic disease and may actually be a contribution to it, something ANH-Intl is working to counter. Acknowledging that diet and lifestyle are key drivers of chronic diseases is the first step, but governments need to step up and give advice based on current science such as the ANH-Intl Food4Health guidelines that will really help people improve their health, reduce their disease risk and reduce the burden on national health providers.

Monsanto banned from EU Parliament

Further to the news that Monsanto declined an invitation to a public hearing at the European Parliament, their lobbyists have now been banned from lobbying members of the European Parliament following pressure from the Greens/EFA Group. Philippe Lamberts, Greens/EFA Group president commented, “Those who ignore the rules of democracy also lose their rights as a lobbyist in the European Parliament. There remain many uncertainties in the assessment of the pesticide glyphosate. Monsanto has to face the questions of parliamentarians and should not hinder the clarification process.”